Motorists who rail against the proliferation of orange cones on the streets are undoubtedly right to complain about the poor coordination of the work: the Auditor General (AG) of the city of Montreal, Michèle Galipeau, comes to the same conclusion in its most recent report, which denounces that the city administration does not have an overview of the construction sites that could affect car traffic.
Posted at 21:52
Isabelle Ducas The press
“The current work does not identify all projects that are both on- and off-road and have an impact on the public road,” writes the Comptroller in her report, which was presented to the local council on Monday.
This incomplete vision of projects does not ensure optimal planning and coordination of road network works before they are carried out, which can have a negative impact on user mobility.
Michèle Galipeau, Auditor General of the City of Montreal, in her recent report
Right from the start, the VG itself points out that for several years the City of Montreal has been “recognized for the large number of roadworks being carried out on the urban road network and the countless detours they cause”.
Of course, all this work is necessary to repair, optimize or modernize the infrastructure, she continues.
She notes that the city’s work accounts for 30% of all construction sites in the area, while the bulk of the work is carried out by the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ), city technical network companies such as Hydro-Québec, Energir and Bell, as well as private contractors.
It is therefore necessary for local authorities to have information on the locations of all these stakeholders.
However, the WG concludes “that the approach taken by the city, namely through the implementation of project planning and coordination processes, is not fully effective in enabling it to proactively gain an overview of the construction sites it is facing affect the road network and minimize the impact on users”.
Support for SMEs and urban forest
The WG addressed other issues in its 2021 report, including the Emergency Relief Scheme for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (PAUPME) and Tree Policy.
PAUPME is the program set up by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation (MEI) to support companies affected by the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In investigating the matter, the WG found that “19% of the reviewed files that were granted a loan did not meet at least one eligibility criteria for the program set by the MEI.”
“Moreover, the comments justifying the financial analysis are of variable geometry and do not always make it possible to properly capture the company’s risk and support the granting of the loan,” the report states.
If such a program were introduced in the future, the city should “implement tighter controls to ensure sound administration,” the VG concludes.
Regarding the tree policy, the VG is of the opinion that “the image of the city’s urban forest is neither complete nor centralized. In the absence of established standards, care practices for activities essential to tree care and development are inconsistent and incomplete.”
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
The Montreal Auditor General believes that “the portrait of the city’s urban forest is neither complete nor centralized”.
In particular, she points out that between 2012 and 2020 nearly 100,000 trees were planted, but the net increment of the city forest is only 30,146 public trees due to the felling of ash trees and trees of all other species.
It regrets that the inventory of public trees is incomplete, their condition is unknown and dead trees and the cause of death are not documented or monitored.